[Study Aired July 25, 2021]

Jer 14:1  The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
Jer 14:2  Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
Jer 14:3  And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
Jer 14:4  Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
Jer 14:5  Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
Jer 14:6  And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
Jer 14:7  O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
Jer 14:8  O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?
Jer 14:9  Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art  in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.
Jer 14:10  Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
Jer 14:11  Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
Jer 14:12  When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

The first verse of this study identifies these as the Lord’s words, insuring the certainty of the message He has given Jeremiah to give to us:

Jer 14:1  The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.

“The[se] word[s] of the Lord…concerning the dearth” are as sure as the rising of the sun. At the time this word of the Lord came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth, it was a literal drought which would afflict all of Judah, all of His people. All these physical experiences of Israel are spiritual “types of us”:

1Co 10:6 Now these things became types of us, for us not to be lusters after evil things, (CLV)

This ‘dearth’ comes upon us because of our self-righteous thoughts which lead us to believe that we are the source of anything, good or evil, when The Truth is:

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

We just naturally serve ourselves as our own king, and this is the curse upon us while we are in that state of mind:

1Sa 8:18  And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.

The Lord has ordained that He will use our self-righteousness and our sins as the occasion He is seeking to trouble us and then to condemn and destroy the carnal-minded kingdom of our old man within our members:

Psa 50:15  And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt  glorify me.

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Our carnal mind is totally unaware of this Truth:

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is  enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Here is the Greek word translated ‘enmity’ along with its definition:

G2189
ἔχθρα
echthra
ekh’-thrah
Feminine of G2190; hostility; by implication a reason for opposition –  enmity, hatred.

If we do not harbor deep-seated “hatred” toward the Lord and His ways, we will fear Him and be obedient to His words, and we will believe that we can do nothing but what He makes us “both to will and to do”:

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

We are not just naturally in possession of this knowledge, but we are just naturally in possession of the law of sin in our members and a mind that just naturally possesses deep hatred toward God and His commandments.

Obedience to God and His words is associated with that which is the exact opposite of a dearth:

Lev 26:3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
Lev 26:4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Lev 26:5 And your threshing [wheat harvest] shall reach unto the vintage [grape harvest], and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
Lev 26:6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.

“Rain in due season” is the exact opposite of a ‘dearth’, a drought. Here is the Hebrew word which is translated as ‘dearth’ in this first verse:

H1226
בַּצֹּרֶת
batstsôreth
bats-tso’-reth
Feminine intensive from H1219; restraint (of rain), that is, drought: – dearth, drought.
Total KJV occurrences: 2

This Hebrew word appears only one other time in the Old Testament, and that one other time is in this same prophecy of Jeremiah:

Jer 17:7  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Jer 17:8  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought [H1226: ‘botstsoreth’, dearth], neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

It is we who as the Lord’s own chosen people have turned our backs on Him and have turned instead to the false doctrines of our own imaginations, and we must endure this dearth because this ‘dearth’ is integral to the destruction of our old man.

The Lord has ordained that the destruction of our own old man must come by ‘the sword’ and by famine [dearth] and by pestilence (vs 12).

Jer 14:2  Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
Jer 14:3  And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.

The phrase “black unto the ground” is simply an expression of extreme grief and mourning in scripture. Because of his self-righteous pride, the Lord took all of Job’s great riches away from him. Then he killed his seven sons and three daughters. Finally, the Lord afflicted Job with boils from head to toe. Here is how Job described the mourning he endured when the Lord was judging his self-righteousness by afflicting him in so many extreme ways:

Job 30:30  My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.
Job 30:31  My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

That is the necessary pain of the judgment of our doomed, rebellious, self-righteous, carnal-minded old man.

We simply do not have it in our flesh to deeply repent of our rebellious desire to please ourselves without first being judged by the Lord’s fiery words. The death of our old man as he is being consumed by the flaming sword which guards the way of the Tree of Life, brings extreme grief to our flesh and to the rebellious, self-righteous mind of our old man.

As Paul and all the prophets have made so clear, the burning out of the “wood, hay and stubble” that is our old man is common to all men, but this process of being judged and having this stubbornness burned out of us “begins… at the house of God”:

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

It is these ‘fiery words’ which ‘chaps’ our ground, meaning the heart and mind of our rebellious carnal mind:

Jer 14:4  Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.

Now let’s see what this word ‘chapt’ means in this verse. Here is the Hebrew word which is translated as ‘’chapt”:

H2865
חָתַת
châthath
khaw-thath’
A primitive root; properly to prostrate; hence to break down, either (literally) by violence, or (figuratively) by confusion and fear: – abolish, affright, be (make) afraid, amaze, beat down, discourage, (cause to) dismay, go down, scare, terrify.
Total KJV occurrences: 48

Of the 48 entries for this word, look at how it is most commonly translated:

H2865
חתת
châthath
Total KJV Occurrences: 48
dismayed, 27
Jos_1:8-9 (2), Jos_8:1, Jos_10:25,
1Sa_17:11, 2Ki_19:26, 1Ch_22:13, 1Ch_28:20, 2Ch_20:15, 2Ch_20:17, 2Ch_32:7, Isa_37:27, Jer_1:17, Jer_8:9, Jer_10:2 (2), Jer_17:18 (2), Jer_23:4, Jer_30:10, Jer_46:27, Jer_48:1, Jer_49:37, Jer_50:36, Eze_2:6, Oba_1:9 (2)
afraid, 6
Isa_20:5, Isa_31:4, Isa_31:9, Isa_51:7, Hab_2:17, Mal_2:5
broken, 6
1Sa_2:10, Isa_9:4, Jer_48:20, Jer_48:39, Jer_50:2, Jer_51:56
abolished, 1
Isa_51:6
affrighted, 1
Job_39:22
amazed, 1
Job_32:15
beaten, 1
Isa_30:31
chapt, 1
Jer_14:4
confound, 1
Jer_1:17
discouraged, 1
Deu_1:21
scarest, 1
Job_7:14
terrify, 1
Job_31:34

This is what Job, a type of the Lord’s elect, had to endure to begin the dying process of his pride and self-righteousness:

Job 7:13  When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;
Job 7:14  Then thou scarest [H2865: ‘chathath’, dismayed, discouraged, terrorized] me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:

This chastening is brought upon us by restraining His ‘rain’ from our ‘land’ and bringing a spiritual ‘drought’ upon us. No part of our life is unaffected by this drought:

Jer 14:5  Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
Jer 14:6  And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.

Every farmer knows that a ‘hind’, a female deer, and a ‘wild ass’ are capable of surviving on much less provender or foliage than domestic cattle. What we are being told is that even these hearty wild beasts are being decimated within us by the Lord’s ‘chastening and scourging’ of our pride and self-righteousness.

There is no way to avoid being dragged to see what we are, and it is a most miserable experience because we simply cannot believe we are that wicked. Remember what the Lord told us earlier in this prophecy:

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.

Our ‘iniquity’ is our “own [self-]righteousness”:

Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it [Trusting in our own righteousness].

Taking credit for anything, our righteousness or our sins, is the act of “scattering [our] ways to strangers” because our old man is definitely a stranger to Christ.

If we are blessed to do so, we will plead with the Lord:

Jer 14:7  O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.

“Do thou it for thy name’s sake” signifies that we realize that we must first suffer this dearth “for His name’s sake” because, through our hypocritical self-righteousness, we have brought a reproach upon His name:

Rom 2:21  Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
Rom 2:22  Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
Rom 2:23  Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
Rom 2:24  For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

If we are “bound to the altar with cords” then the Lord will convict us of our self-righteous hypocrisy and we will, even as we struggle, cry out to Him:

Jer 14:8  O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?
Jer 14:9  Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD  art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.

Oh yes, the Lord is more than able to save us. Indeed, that is exactly what He is in the process of doing “for [His] name’s sake”.

Psa 50:15  And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

It takes His chastening grace for us to “forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts”. It takes all seven plagues to bring us “to [ourselves]”. The seven last plagues culminate in “an earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth”, and that is what is required to get our attention. It also requires a drought, a “dearth”, a famine of the Word of God in our lives to bring us to the point of seeing just how sinful this clay vessel is and how badly we need to be given dominion over it.

Amo 8:11  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

Luk 15:14  And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
Luk 15:15  And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
Luk 15:16  And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
Luk 15:17  And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

Rev 16:17  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

I well remember commenting to a friend many years ago, shortly after coming out of the Worldwide Church Of God, that I felt as if I was on a spiritual plateau, going nowhere. What I called a ‘plateau’ was, in reality, “a famine… of the hearing the words of the Lord”. From that point the Lord “made me to err from his ways and hardened my heart from His fear, and in His time, He brought me to my wits’ end.

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Our heavenly Father is a loving Father, but His love in no way conflicts with His justice.  Being a God of love necessitates being a just God, and that is why we are told:

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Even as we are being brought to our wits’ end and we are being chastened, it comes to us because we must all reap double what we have sown while we were in Babylon. However, the reward of judgment in this present time is more than worth the shame and suffering of that judgment:

Isa 61:7  For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

To those who do not know the mind of Christ, these words sound as if they are telling us that all we have to do is to choose to sow to the spirit and resist the temptation to sow to our flesh. That is the great lie of the great false doctrine of ‘free moral agency’. That false doctrine makes a lie of these words of Truth:

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

That is the message of scripture from Genesis to Revelation. It is God who ‘is working all things after the counsel of His own will’:

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

We are turned away from our own Husband when we seek to impose our will upon Him. When we attempt to impose our will upon our Lord, He refers to this as ‘loving to wander’, and like Cain we will not be accepted. Rather the Lord will “remember our iniquity and visit our sins… for our own good”.

Jer 14:10  Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
Jer 14:11  Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
Jer 14:12  When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

It is the Lord’s own Word, ‘His sword’, which has already pronounced judgment upon us through a famine of His Word, and by pestilence, which typifies all the “diseases of Egypt”:

Exo 15:26  And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

The “diseases of Egypt” typify all the false doctrines afflicting the kingdom of Babylon and the kingdom of our old man who has been under the rule of this great harlot for so long. We turned our back on the Lord and His Word, and as the Corinthian fornicator, who typifies every one of us when we ‘lose our first love’, the Lord also turns His back on us and does not hear our prayers or the prayers of others who may be praying for us.

We must learn to be obedient to these words:

1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife [the church, Act 20:30].
1Co 5:2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
1Co 5:3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1Co 5:6  Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

As counterintuitive as it is to our flesh, its own destruction is the best thing any of us will ever come to know. “The destruction of the flesh” is the Lord’s goal for every man because, all false doctrines to the contrary, this is the Truth:

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

In this same chapter we are also told:

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Christ made clear there is no such thing as “a spiritual body of eternal flesh”:

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Yes, indeed, a resurrected spiritual body can appear as “flesh and bone”, but that is not its composition:

Luk 24:39  Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

This event was done because of the lack of faith by the disciples. When Christ was finished making His point that He was indeed resurrected from the dead, He then led them out of Jerusalem “as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them…”

Luk 24:51  And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.

When we “present our bodies a living sacrifice” (Rom 12:1), “die daily” (1Co 15:31), and we begin to be “crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20), it is at that point that we are beginning to be judged, and we are beginning to enter into His rest (Heb 4:1-4).

Until we are given spiritual eyes which are capable of ‘seeing’ that neither our own works, nor the works of others, are really our own works or their own works, we are still spiritually blind, and we are turning our backs on our spiritual husband. We are one and all “made to err from [His] ways, and our hearts are hardened from [His] fear” (Isa 63:17). Indeed, we are to “judge those that are within”, but we are never to judge those that are outward in this present time:

1Co 5:9  I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
1Co 5:10  Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
1Co 5:11  But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
1Co 5:12  For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
1Co 5:13  But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

These prophecies all concern that which is “within”, be it within me or within the body of Christ. Even as we “judge them that are within”, we must never attempt to force feed “strong meat” to a weak brother who as yet is capable of eating only herbs:

Rom 14:1  Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2  For one believeth that he may eat all things:  another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Rom 14:3  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
Rom 14:4  Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Rom 14:5  One man [weak in the faith] esteemeth one day above another: another [“We… that are strong”, Rom 15:1] esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind [“Bear with… him that is weak in the faith”].
Rom 14:6  He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

It is iniquity and self-righteousness when we attempt to make a weak brother eat our strong meat. Judging them that are within has to do with overt rebellion as King Saul rebelled against the very plain words of the Lord. “Do not ye judge them that are within” refers to overt fornication. It has no application to a weak brother who simply has not yet come to see the necessity of going on to perfection. He is grateful for the herbs and the milk of the Word which he has been given. He is a “carnal… babe in Christ” who is not yet capable of digesting the “strong meat” of the Word:

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Paul is admonishing us against factionalizing Christ, but he is not casting out the “carnal… babes”, rather he is bearing with them in hopes of bringing them to maturity.

Attempting to admonish anyone who is not “within” the body of Christ is not even under consideration in any scripture. It is the Lord who is ruling in the kingdoms of this world, and we must never make the mistake of attempting to “make straight that which He has made crooked”. We must be vigilant never to attempt to make strong that which the Lord has made “weak in the faith”. The Lord will strengthen both the strong and the weak, and He will do so on His own schedule.

Ecc 7:13  Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

Rom 14:1  Him that is weak in the faith receive ye [“We… that are strong” (Rom 15:1)], but not to doubtful disputations.

Let us gently admonish “him that is weak in the faith”, and Paul did in 1^st Corinthians 3:1-4 and as he does here in:

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk [“eats herbs”] is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

It is “strong meat” to realize that these words:

Jer 14:11  Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
Jer 14:12  When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

These words are addressed to you and me. This “the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord”:

1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

If the Lord had not turned us over to Satan for the destruction of our flesh, if He had not refused to hear our prayers and had not consumed us by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, then we would never have been brought to our wits’ end and made to cry out to our heavenly Father to deliver us from our own destructive ways.

Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. [Our “punishment”]
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

This is what the Lord is doing, and we are blessed to know Him and to be given His mind:

Amo 3:1  Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
Amo 3:2  You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

The punishment, the chastening and scourging of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

This world doesn’t know it, but they are all waiting for the Lord to reveal to them those who are His “very elect”. Those elect will be the saviors of this world:

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

That is our study for today. I pray the Lord will give us all to wait on Him to save both us and this world. We are growing at His pace and on His schedule, and the same is true for all the rest of this world.

Here are our verses for next week:

Jer 14:13  Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
Jer 14:14  Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
Jer 14:15  Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
Jer 14:16  And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.
Jer 14:17  Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.
Jer 14:18  If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.
Jer 14:19  Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!
Jer 14:20  We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
Jer 14:21  Do not abhor us, for thy name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
Jer 14:22  Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.

Part 4 – “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed”

God has made provision for His people to overcome through the chastening and scourging grace that every son must experience if they are being received in this life (Heb 12:6), and even if “his children forsake my law” or “walk not in my judgments” or “break my statutes” or “keep not my commandments”, God has devised a means to redeem us from the earth in our corrupt and marred vessels, promising to “visit their transgression with the rod” and “their iniquity with stripes” of verses 30 to 32 of our study this evening.

God’s words apply to His people primarily inwardly, and we value those fiery words of eternal life that very few have been given eyes and ears to see and hear today. We believe these are the words of eternal life that we must experience judging us in our earth (Isa 26:9, 1Pe 4:17) and we know that it is because the holy spirit convicts us of sin that is in our members that we can become more than conquerors over sin through Christ, our hope of glory (Joh 6:68, Php 1:29, Joh 8:31, 1Pe 4:12, Rom 2:4, Rom 7:23, Col 1:27).

Part of being predestinated is that we will be convicted of who we are (Mat 4:3, Luk 22:70, 1Jn 4:17, 1Jn 3:1). What needs to change in our life is part of what happens when we are being sanctified by God’s word and justified by God (Rom 8:30-33). That conviction leads to actions that are caused of God through Christ who is working this in the life of the body of Christ. It is a process to come to see our nakedness, our self righteousness, and every other thing that God says must be destroyed and will be little by little by the hand of God (Deu 7:22).

We will grow as a body in a tenderheartedness to want to cover the sins of others as witnessed in these verses (Luk 23:34, 1Jn 4:17, Gen 9:22-23). Our lot in this life is like Christ to see our raiment parted for which the world around us cast the lots (Luk 23:34). This symbolism reminds us of how the world wrongly separates Christ’s clothing (his word) as they determine where that cloth will go via the process of casting lots which witnesses our disobedience in our flesh which is not yet subject unto Christ. God has determined in advance what we would do in regard to disobedience (Act 4:27-28) and the symbolism of where lots are cast (Luk 23:34) is there to remind us that it is only Aaron (Christ and His body) who is to have this judgment close to his heart (Exo 28:30) that rightly divides the word of God as Christ and his people have (Joh 5:30). The singleness of mind in judgment witnesses to the fact that Christ’s body is not divided. We are one cloth subject to our high priest, who is typified by Aaron who has the Urim and Thummim close to his heart, which symbolizes our desire to cleave to Christ who is our Urim and Thummim in our heavens (Col 1:27) who enables us to rightly divide the word, the cloth (Exo 28:30). Today instead of following this physical law and method of Israel to determine whether or not they would go into battle (Exo 28:30) we are blessed to determine God’s will by pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus who enables us to go to war not against flesh and blood but against the powers and principalities that we war against (Php 3:14, Eph 5:17, Rom 12:1-2, Eph 6:12).

To quote an email received this week, “our righteousness can unwittingly overshadow God’s righteousness” this statement helps us explain why those seven worse spirits must come back into the lives of those who are called and chosen to endure unto the end. These spirits must take up residence for a season so that the deeper crushing (Mat 21:44) which comes from the stone falling on us will burn up that self-righteous spirit that naturally clings to the first man Adam which says “haven’t I done many wonderful works”. The answer to that question is “yes, but do you understand from your heart that it was Christ doing those works in you both to will and to do”, because if we do, and God has got us to that point, it is because we have been blessed to become disciples indeed through enduring through the crushing experience that we need in this life so we can be strenghthened, settled and established in the Lord. Then we can say with Christ, even after we have done many wonderful works as Christ did, “don’t call me good, there is one good” of Mar 10:18).

Tonight’s study is the fourth part in our multi-part study entitled “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound”, with the subtitle “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed”.

It seems like some kind of strange contradiction does it not? God says those with whom he is working are the ones who are going to…:

Psa 89:30 If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
Psa 89:31 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;

….but not if we consider the next part of this section of scripture that shows us what He will do with those with whom He is dealing in this age and receiving as children of God through chastening and scourging (Heb 12:6) then this tells us a much different story of a Father who is simply bringing His first born, kind of first-fruit children, into an accounting which is what all the world in time will have to do.

Psa 89:32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

We can liken these heavier trials that burn away our self-righteousness that blinds us to a disobedient spirit to the taking away of our straw to make bricks, as was mentioned this week in an email. Yes, God makes it harder for his children to whom much has been given (Luk 12:48), and His expectation of us is to bring forth much fruit to His glory (Joh 15:8) through the much tribulation and affliction that fills up what is behind of the afflitions of Christ for his body’s sake (Col 1:24). Every man’s work is made manifest by taking away the wood, hay and stubble.

Exo 5:7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
Exo 5:8 And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
Exo 5:9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.

1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

Pharoah’s expectation was that he was going to destroy Israel’s relationship with God by making things harder, just like we know evil men will wax worse and worse and the love of many will wax cold if God allows that, but we now are blessed to see and believe that He who is in us is greater than all those powers and principalities as was mentioned in last week’s study (1Jn 4:4, Eph 1:21, Col 1:27). This is the occasion and witness that God seeks against the world to demonstrate to all mankind in time that the gates of hell will not prevail against His little flock, the weak of the world, (Luk 12:32) no matter how heated the trials become because (1Pe 4:12), we will prevail through Christ and be more than conquerors through our Lord who gives the body of Christ the ability to endure all things (Mat 16:18, Php 2:13, Php 4:13). This is why we must arm ourselves with His mind and suffering and know that we can go through the fire that matures us and causes us to cease from sinning (Rom 8:36-37).

1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

God’s exceedingly great and precious promises give us hope to overcome as He enables us to endure (Php 2:13) until the end together as one body of Christ who “know the joyful sound”, which we hear in each other and experience and share as we bear each other’s burdens through the fiery process of judgment to which we have been called.

Dan 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
Dan 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

Psa 89:30 If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
Psa 89:31 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
Psa 89:32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
Psa 89:33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
Psa 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Psa 89:35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
Psa 89:36 His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.
Psa 89:37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

Our first verses:

Psa 89:30 If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
Psa 89:31 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
Psa 89:32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

As we know, if it is written we are going to do it, if God says don’t do, it is because it is in our nature to want to do it. Adam and Eve are the first humans to make this point very clear. You could not have a more perfect scenario, which was all of the Lord and pronounced as being something that was very good (Gen 1:31). So God set the stage for Adam and Eve and all of their children to “forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments” as well as “break my statutes, and keep not my commandments“.

They were His children just as we are, and the only way that the foolishness that was just naturally in their heart was going to be driven away was with a rod, which symbolizes the word of God that when we hear it chastens and scourges our foolishness, when we hear it and become doers of it (Rom 2:13).

Pro 22:15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

Rev 11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Rev 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

Christ’s sinful flesh and His body the church were and are considered iniquitous by God and must be visited by stripes if we are to learn obedience and overcome in this age (Isa 53:5, Heb 5:8).

Psa 89:33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

This is a verse that fills us with hope and comfort knowing that the Lord will be with us in the deepest shadows of the valley of death moments of our life. Sin separates us from God and truly makes us feel like we are being abandoned and that God is taking away from us our comfort, which we so cherish in Him. God knows how we feel when we go through trials, Christ knows how we feel, and it is because of Christ’s experience of being on the cross that we can be comforted by our high priest who lived these words in this 33rd verse.

Mat 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

It is in the ninth hour of judgment (1Pe 4:17) upon His flesh that Christ calls out to our Father, and it is after three fervent prayers which demonstate the process of judgment that Christ was sent an angel to strenghthen him to enable him to be taken by the hands of an angry mob that were going to scourge him and crucify him. What tremendous power being demonstrated for our sake that we can be more than conquerors through Christ, if we are granted to endure until the end and continue in His word! He will not “suffer my faithfulness to fail”.

Luk 22:43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
Luk 22:44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Psa 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Psa 89:35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
Psa 89:36 His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.

Here we have three more verses that give us confirmation that God’s word cannot be broken. Pilates response “what I have I written I have written” found in (Joh 19:22) was not something Pilate decided to say to demonstrate to us that he had free moral agency but rather was being uttered according to the counsel of God’s will, who works all things, or as stated in verse 34, “nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips” (Eph 1:11).

We have a myriad of diamond examples of God’s sovereignty and need to be reminded of the promises that are there for our encouragement as they act as an ointment or annointing on Christ’s feet preparing us for whatever we must endure today as we go without the camp with our Lord (Joh 12:3, Heb 13:13). We need that comfort from each other and in His word right now (Heb 10:25)!

God does not lie to David, but He will send a lying spirit to cause us to believe a lie and try our hearts through that test (Eze 14:9, Deu 13:1-3, 2Th 2:11). When we are told “once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David”, we are seeing an old covenant expression of these verses in the new testament.

Heb 6:17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

God’s “seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me” because He changes not, and because He changes not, we are able to change and go from glory to glory as we approach the unapproachable light through Christ, who is the Sun of righteousness in whom we have our inheritance.

Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

1Ti 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

Heb 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Psa 89:37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

This last verse of our study likens what God is doing unto us as something that shall be “established for ever as the moon” and “as a faithful witness in heaven”.

We do need to ‘Selah’ and pause and contemplate what is being said here. The moon reflects the sun of righteousness, who is Christ and can be likened unto Babylon or the churches of this world, but the positive use of the moon in this case reminds us that we are blessed to be as our Master and will reflect his light unto the earth “for ever”^H5769 or to the world today and during the millenium, “as a faithful witness in heaven”, meaning our heavens have been given power to be those who are used of God to witness His light to the world (Rev 11:3).

After the witness is complete of the positive example of the moon, then we know that all these types and shadows are no longer needed and so were told this:

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

This sun and moon within us and all the old heavens are destroyed within us as were told in this verse in 2Pe 3:10, which is another way of saying we go without the camp with our Lord and suffer the reproach that He did to whatever degree He will prepare us to endure. The fullness of this verse in Joh 14:20 is being prophesied of in Rev 21:23.

The point keeps coming back in our study that “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed”. If we are blessed to be those who go without the camp, we will have our heavens purified in this age, and that is our prayer, that we can be of one mind (Php 2:2) with all those angels whom God is using today to strenghthen us in the garden or without the camp where His mercy is being extended so that we can be purified and become His “disciples indeed” through that experience.

Next week, God willing, we will cover Psalms 89:38-45 where again we will see how God’s word is not for the weak of heart but those who have been strengthened by the bread of life to be able to endure an age that is fast becoming more and more as it was in the days of Noah with the earth full of violence and mens hearts failing them for those things coming upon the earth.

Psa 104:15 And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.

Luk 21:26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Next week we will look at how God’s first-fruit workmanship, which He determined from the foundation of the world to endure unto the end, must go through the fiery judgments needed to unite us in the mind of Christ that has a deep continual and enduring reverence for our Father. That singleness of mind is what Christ’s body is being granted to develop today by dying daily and carrying our cross so that we can meet the challenges that we are promised are going to keep coming until our Lord returns.

Joh 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Mar 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

Video Links

Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

Introduction

These are words we are to “read, hear, and keep” (Rev 1:3). They are not addressed to physical Babylon in Iraq. Neither are they addressed to spiritual Babylon in physical Rome or Jerusalem. These words are addressed to “He that hath an ear” (Rev 2:7). If we are granted “ears to hear and eyes that see”, then we will want only to know ‘How will I “keep the things written therein”?’ As we are about to see, ‘Mystery Babylon The Great The Mother of Harlots, is within us as God’s own backslidden wife. As King Solomon demonstrated for us last week, in 1Ki 10, it took time for us to become the slave of all that Babylon has to offer. King Solomon, a type of us having lost our first love, had 700 wives, and 300 concubines, who were all daughters of the nations surrounding Israel. That is one thousand women, ten (the flesh) to the third power(the process of judgment), who were riding the beast, the king of Israel, a type of you and me, and their traditions were a snare to King Solomon.

1Ki 11:1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
1Ki 11:2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
1Ki 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
1Ki 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

Christ had twice appeared to King Solomon and had made him both rich and wise. Nevertheless our Lord had somewhat against King Solomon because he had “left his first love”, his own God, and “His wives [ had] turned away his heart after other gods”. Solomon’s wives are this “great whore… sitting upon a scarlet colored best”. She is “Mother of Harlots, and abominations of the world”, and she who “sits upon [ the] many waters” of the many false doctrines and ungodly traditions which are typified by the 1000 wives and concubines of King Solomon. The apostasy of King Solomon is the Old Testament type of the overwhelming majority of Christians who had apostatized while the apostles were still alive. The apostasy of King Solomon, by the traditions of his many pagan wives, demonstrates how this world rules over us when we ought to be ruling over the land of Israel. Instead of being rulers over the land of Israel, we have placed the gods of outsiders above our God, and we are being ruled by these 1000 wives, “Babylon the Great The Mother of Harlots, and Abominations of the Earth.”
Now let’s see how our Lord judges this harlot within us. Let us notice how this harlot has the same mind as the church of Laodicea of which we all read, hear and keep at our own time. Let us also notice that these vials of God’s wrath, are called the “great and marvelous” work of God. Remember, this is all a part of the seventh vial of God’s wrath, which is being poured out upon us to destroy the beast we are, and the influence of this harlot over that beast within us.

Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

This last vial is poured out into “the air”, a type of the realm of the spirit, in which the four winds blow. So let us take on the spiritual mind of Christ, and view all seven vials as the “great and marvelous… wonderful works of God to the children of men”, which they are. That is how God sees His work of our judgment within us. Here is how Christ is judging the business of this harlot who is “sitting on many waters” within us:

Psa 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

The Hebrew word translated ‘great’ in verse 23, is the word ‘rab’. It is most often translated as ‘many’, as in this verse in which it first appears.

Gen 37:34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many [ Hebrew, rab] days.

So Psa 107:23 can also be translated “They that… do business in [ the] many waters… on which the whore sits”.

Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

So this harlot within us is being judged and is being destroyed. But what is the outcome of it all?

Isa 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

It is through “receiving double for all of our sins”, that “our warfare is accomplished and our iniquity is pardoned”. Here is Isa 40:2 in this book of revelation.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

Truly these seven last plagues of God’s wrath are “great and marvelous… wonderful works to the children of men” by our God within our lives, even while “we have this treasure in earthen vessels”.

2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure [ Christ] in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Let us now observe how our Lord performs the great and marvelous work of judging the influence of this great harlot upon our lives.

Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

This is a wonderful work in our lives. This is what we were told at the introduction of the pouring out of the seventh vial into the air of our heavens.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

This, our judgment, is the greatest work God will ever do in “the earth” which is our lives. It is a work “such as was not since men were upon the earth”, and here is why that is so.

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Rev 18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

The power of this verse comes from the book of Isaiah which gives us the glorious outcome of having the cup which we have filled, filled to us double.

Isa 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

Let us acknowledge that it is through “receiving double for all of our sins” that “our warfare is accomplished and our iniquity is pardoned. Here is Isa 40:2 in this book of revelation.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

When “it is done”, we have fulfilled the seven plagues of the seven angels, have gotten the victory over the beast, and we are now worthy to stand with the overcomers upon the sea of glass mingled with fire.

Rev 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Let us never deny the justice of our God. He will indeed “double to us all double what injustices we have fulfilled. As we have “glorified ourselves at the expense of our Lord and our brothers, so much torment and sorrow we will receive.

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

It is a false and an insidious doctrine which teaches that “mercy rejoices against judgment” contradicts “whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap”.

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, thatshall he also reap.
Jas 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

In time we will come to see “Thou art the man”.

2Sa 12:4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
2Sa 12:5 And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
2Sa 12:6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
2Sa 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
2Sa 12:8 And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if [ that had been] too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
2Sa 12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
2Sa 12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

We are so quick to say “He shall have judgment without mercy, that showed no mercy” while we are thinking of some other man who “had no pity”. Like King David, we are so quick to forget that it is we who are “chief of sinners” and who must “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”, and we forget that it is our own house from which “the sword [ of God’s Word] will never depart” if we are blessed to that degree in this life.
So “mercy rejoices against judgment” is true, but it in no way denies the justice or the judgment of God in our lives. Our Lord, who is the Truth, puts it all in these words:

Luk 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Luk 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Luk 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

“All things come alike to all men” does not mean that the details of our experiences are all the same. What it does mean is that Christ has but one way of doing the work of His Father upon this carnal earth, and that way is “the way of the Tree of Life”. The way of Christ is the way of His Father. That being so, it is a fiery way, because our God is a consuming fire. You and I are “the earth” on which Christ has come to send the fire of His Word to purify us and to make us worthy to stand with Him on that sea of glass mingled with fire, and to make us worthy to enter into the temple in heaven.
This verse of Rev 18 is speaking to us about ourselves.

Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

It is we who have said these words in our hearts while we took comfort in the lies of this great harlot to whom we are all slaves in our own time. This harlot is the same as the church of Laodicea, because “she has said [ these same words] in her heart.

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

“Be zealous therefore, and repent”. What is it that leads us to repentance?

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Far too many Christians do not realize that “the goodness of God” is His chastening grace, as it is described for us in Psa 107.

Psa 107:8 Oh that [ men] would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
Psa 107:10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
Psa 107:11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:
Psa 107:12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
Psa 107:13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
Psa 107:15 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

That is what we are being told concerning the wonderful works of God when this great harlot within us “contemns the counsel of the most High” within us. Only then is this harlot within us judged, our hearts are “brought down with labor and there is none to help”. So we continue in the description of the judgment which is needed to extricate us from the clutches of this great harlot who dominates the beast we all are.

Rev 18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

“Her plagues” are the seven last plagues of chapter 16. “In one day” is a scriptural term for the short work which the Lord is working in us all as we are being judged and perfected in these vessels of clay. The “death, mourning and famine” are all accomplished through the Words which have proceeded out of the mouth of God. Babylon has been suffering a famine of the word all along; she simply has not been aware of that fact. Speaking of “the faithful city which has become a harlot”, Isaiah makes this statement.

Isa 3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,
Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

Isa 3:1 is the recipe for this kind of famine.

Amo 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

We will all endure this famine before we are granted to have this great harlot and her doctrines within us judged and “burned with [ the] fire” of the Word of God within us.
Here is what “the Lord God who judges her ” is doing in that judgment.

1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

The only way to avoid being “condemned with the world” is to have this harlot within us judged and destroyed by “losing our lives” in order to find life.

Mat 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Losing this life and its pleasures in the flesh is very hard on the kings within us who rule over our flesh.

Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

“The kings of the earth” are all the principalities against whom this “war in the heavens” is being waged within us. Ours is not a physical battle. Rather it is a spiritual battle which must be waged every day.

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Eph 6:12 For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against authorities and powers, against the world- rulers of this dark night, against the spirits of evil in the heavens. (BBE)

Our warfare is “not against flesh and blood”, but it is “in the heavens”, against the principalities and powers of that realm. Only those who have fought this fight are granted to “turn to see the voice behind them” and to realize just how great is this battle, and to know just how great is the loss of this battle to “the kings of the earth” who have for so long ruled our earth, and been nourished within us by the doctrines of this great harlot. “The smoke of her burning” is a terrible loss to the kings of our flesh, who are said to “lament for her when they see the smoke of her burning”.
As our Lord has told us:

Luk 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

What Babylon has is our life which we must lose if we hope to find it. Babylon is our way of life, in opposition to the ways and mind of our Lord. What Babylon is, is just as much a “mystery” as is the mystery of Christ being in us. Look at the contrast of these two mysteries.
Here is Babylon:

Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead [ was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Here is the end of her work and her ways within us.

Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
Rev 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Rev 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

That Babylon is God’s own fallen people is beyond question when we place these verses beside the words of our Lord concerning the church of His time.

Luk 13:33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.
Luk 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen [ doth gather] her brood under [ her] wings, and ye would not!

It is, and always has been, those who believe on Christ who want to kill him.

Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [ then] are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you

“The sorceries” of Babylon deceive the whole world and kill Christ within us. The mystery of Christ destroys Babylon within us and brings to us “the hope of glory”, which glory cannot be experienced while living in the pleasures of Babylon. The inward nature of this struggle is revealed in these words.

Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [ be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

“The gospel… which was preached to every creature under heaven” is the heavens and the creatures within us which Babylon has deceived and ruled over for so long. There are 24 verses in this 18th chapter, and they are all dedicated to demonstrating to us just how deeply Babylon has permeated our lives. It is in Babylon, that we live until she is destroyed in the day of our judgment. That day for a few is now, and the fire of that judgment is “already kindled”. It is unquenchable fire which will burn until the fuel for that fire is spent and is destroyed.

Luk 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

We are to “keep the things written in this book” (Rev 1:3). The fact that the fiery trials of life are working in us is not some strange thing. It is rather a great and marvelous work, that the fire our Lord came to bring us is already kindled within our lives while we are yet in these clay vessels. This is “His goodness and his wonderful works to the children of men”. Oh, that we can learn to praise the Lord for this work within us.

Psa 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
Psa 107:3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
Psa 107:4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
Psa 107:5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Psa 107:6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
Psa 107:8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Next week we will see even more of the depths from which His goodness and His wonderful works have delivered us out of the wilderness that is our journey in Babylon, and we will see just how much our old man has lost. What we will see is that Babylon is filled with every tradition and way that is valuable to the natural man, as well as the very building materials with which we are told to build upon the foundation of Christ. But Babylon, even with the proper building materials, is not built upon the foundation of Christ, because His words have no place in Babylon, and in the end, it is Christ’s words which cause us to want Him dead.

Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Rev 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Rev 18:14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

Hey, Mike,

If the unjust receive and confess Christ in the day of Judgment then why are they cast, thrown, and thrust into the Lake of Fire? I do believe that Christ is this refining fire (Mal 3:2).

Thanks,
J____

Hi J____,
Thank you for your question,

As you say, God is the lake of fire only inasmuch as “all things are of God.” But God has ordained that His elect are to be that lake of fire. That is why it is a small ‘lake’ instead of a vast ‘sea.’ “Many are called, few are chosen” to be this purifying lake of fire for all men who are not in that “blessed and holy first resurrection” of the few chosen. Here are the scriptures which bear all of this out:

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death [“Which is the lake of fire”] hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years

We know that God will save all who are in Adam because He tells us that He is doing so in the same manner in which we are all dying in Adam.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Why are few chosen at this time, while still in these vessels of clay? Here is why.

Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: [ the many called but not chosen]
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

The many called but not chosen receive mercy through the few chosen. Who are these “few chosen?” Here is what the scriptures actually teach.

Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion [ the “many called”] are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings
Isa 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

Who?… Who…? The answer is “He that walks righteously.” Those that dwell comfortably in the flames which are our God, are the few chosen elect who are “like their creator” and who comprise the fire of the lake of fire.

Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

We are all “dragged to Christ,” by the spirit, and in that sense we are all “cast into the fire.” But we are not all part of that small, few chosen, “lake of fire.” The many called will be “cast into the lake of fire,” which fire are God’s elect. It is the exact “same event for all men.” But that “same event” is at a different time, and the numbers involved are vastly different.

Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

The apostle Paul was very well aware of this fact.

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

I hope this helps you to see that we must all “live by every word of God.” We must all“keep the things written therein.”

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

The reason there are two resurrections is so those blessed and holy few who are in the first resurrection, who have endured the fiery trials of this life, will be prepared to identify with the fiery trials of those who must be made to reap what they have sown and to give an accounting of the things done in the body. God is judging only His house at this time. Judgment comes to the world only in the great white throne judgment. Not at this time.

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

“Glad” of what? Glad that the judgment is now on the house of God, so that when His glory shall be revealed, you will be “glad” that you have already been judged and are now in a position to “judge this world.”

> 1Pe 4:17 For the time [ is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and i f it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Those who are first judged as “the house of God,” will rule with Christ a thousand years and then they will judge those who did “obey the gospel of God” at this time.

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death [“Which is the lake of fire”] hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

I hope you now see that the world is not now being judged. Only “the house of God” is being judged at this time. It is the “great white throne… judgment,” which “is the second death,” which is the lake of fire, which is “the day of judgment in which “the unjust will receive and confess Christ” as the “many called.” The “refining fire” of the lake of fire is Christ’s elect.

Act 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

Christ considers His elect to be Him. Those are His own words.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike